


home is when we’re together

by itoshin



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Canon Compliant, For the most part, Rated T for TommyInnit Swears A Lot, just giving tommy the Good Time he deserves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itoshin/pseuds/itoshin
Summary: “Tubbo? Holy shit, you’re—you’re here? You’re real? You came? I’m not hallucinating shit right now, am I?”Tubbo smiles softly, and he hesitantly opens his arms. An invitation for a hug.“I’m here, Tommy.”In which they all show up to the beach party.
Relationships: Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 59
Kudos: 531





	home is when we’re together

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted the fuckign beach episode, goddammit. let tommy have nice things please!!!!
> 
> anyways, I never thought I'd be writing a minecraft fanfic, but here I am LOL. also I don't normally write in present tense so if you see mistakes That is on Me

Tommy wishes time could go faster.

He stares up at his compass impatiently, tapping his finger against the rim of it, counting the seconds.

Or, well, he’s pretty sure he’s counting seconds, anyway.

Tommy throws his arm over his eyes, groaning. “Kind of hard to keep track of the time when you’ve been exiled.”

He’s not even sure who he’s talking to anymore. He hasn’t seen Ghostbur ever since he went to send the party invitations to L’manberg, so it definitely isn’t _Ghostbur_ he’s talking to.

“…Myself, I guess,” Tommy laughs tiredly. “Guess it’s just me, myself, and I.”

 _Tap_ , _tap_ , _tap_ against the compass.

Tommy suddenly pushes himself up in his bed, feeling renewed. “No. No, you know what? Today is going to be a good day. People will show up to my party, and it’ll be great!”

No one is there to agree with him, but he knows Ghostbur would tell him _That’s the spirit!_

Tommy slides out of bed, presenting himself with confidence. The necklace of a compass bumps against his chest, and Tommy looks down at it.

“…Will you be there?” He whispers. “I’d really—I miss you.”

The compass doesn’t respond. Tommy figures he should have known better. 

He leans over to grab his— _Wilbur’s_ —coat from where it hangs, shrugging it on. Exiting the tent, Tommy glances over at the beach.

Empty. _Of course it is_. 

“No, no, no, no, no. No!” Tommy slaps at his face a bit, shaking his head vigorously. “They’ll show up. They will! They—”

Tommy cuts himself off as he notices that, in the distance, the nether portal starts to ripple.

Heart jumping up in his chest, he hurriedly starts to run toward the portal. He stumbles a bit as he runs, hears the dirt crunch under his feet, feels the wind hitting his face, and in that moment, Tommy realizes he’s _smiling_.

“Tommy!”

Long arms wrap around him, black and white and gold and red surrounding his vision.

His voice unintentionally comes out as a sob: “ _Ranboo!_ ”

They stay there for seconds, minutes, with Tommy clutching at Ranboo’s shoulders desperately, like if he lets go, it will all fall away.

Gently, Ranboo puts a hand on Tommy’s head. “It’s okay, dude. Don’t worry. The others are coming, too.” He slowly pulls away, awkwardly placing a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “I’m just, uh, a bit of an early bird.”

“Holy shit,” Tommy laughs out, “Ranboo, pinch me. Oh my God. You guys are coming! Ha!” Tommy grins wide, bouncing up and down on his toes. “Holy shit! I can’t believe I even had my doubts!”

The nether portal ripples again, causing Ranboo to pause from trying to pinch Tommy. With a knowing smile, Ranboo nudges Tommy instead. “Look! Here they come.”

Quackity exits first, shouting “ _Eyyy, Big T!_ ” with Karl close behind, cheering. Sapnap follows, with a lead in his hands—connecting to Batthew.

Tommy’s eyes widen, letting out another laugh. “Oh my God, you—oh my God! You brought Batthew? How’d you even manage to bring him through the nether? Holy shit. Holy shit!”

Sapnap smiles widely in return, handing Tommy the lead. “Yeah. Figured you probably wanted to see him. It was…a bit difficult, making sure he, uh, survived the nether, but hey! He did it!”

“He did it!” Tommy echoes, looking up at Batthew affectionately. “I—wow. I’m just…”

Perhaps it was good timing, Tommy realizes later, when George crashes in shouting about how Sapnap should’ve slowed down, because he didn’t actually know what he was going to say at that moment.

Sapnap and George start bickering loudly, and Quackity has already pushed Karl into the ocean, leaving Tommy to stand with Ranboo speechlessly.

Speechlessly, but happily.

Still holding Batthew’s lead, Tommy’s hand goes up to his chest. He clenches his shirt, feeling his lips tremble a little.

He opens his mouth, trying to find words, but nothing coherent comes out. Despite that, he knows that Ranboo understands.

“Heh. You look like shit.”

Tommy snaps his gaze over to the direction of the nether portal, where Technoblade stands next to Phil. Phil leans against the obsidian structure of the portal, one wing draped around Techno’s shoulder, and Techno looks down at Tommy with a smug expression.

“ _Seriously_?” Tommy scoffs, the sentimental feelings he had been showing immediately out of the window. “Phil”— _Dad_ is what he doesn’t say—“I can understand, but Ghostbur invited _you_ , too? Ugh.”

Techno shrugs nonchalantly, clearly unbothered. “Of course he did. Wilbur and I get along.”

Tommy wants to disagree, but Phil politely cuts in before he can. “Look, Tommy. Today’s a day of peace. We all came to your party because we wanted to see you!”

“Well—” Techno’s turn to disagree.

“ _Techno_. As I was saying. We’re here for you, and to have a good time at the beach, so can we not have any arguing, boys? If my sunbathing today gets interrupted because of it…” Phil’s wings start to expand, and Tommy hastily nods.

“Yeah, yeah! I get it! No interrupting Tanning Time with Philza. I gotcha.”

Techno gives a grunt of acknowledgment.

Phil’s wings fold back in, and he seems to smile, almost fondly. “Good. Thank you for letting us come, Tommy.”

He begins to walk away, and Techno uncharacteristically sticks his tongue out at Tommy, lighthearted, before following Phil.

Tommy gives Techno’s back the middle finger. Turning to Ranboo, he says, “That bastard. I’m gonna fuck him up later today, just you watch.”

“Yeah…” Ranboo draws out, “…something tells me that’s not really going to work out.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Tommy replies stubbornly. “I’ll catch him by surprise. Sneak up on him. He’ll be collectin’ turtles and shit, and I’ll just dump a bucket of sand on him. Ha! Oh, man, just imagine his face! Oh, yeah, this is going to be great.”

Ranboo smiles warmly, glancing over at the ocean. “I’m really glad to see you happy, Tommy. I’ll be, uh, pretty honest with you. Some of the replies that you’ve given me are a little…” Ranboo trails off hesitantly.

Tommy looks at the ground, suddenly much more interested in his boots on the ground.

His friend shakes his head. “Nevermind. Now’s not the time to be thinking ‘bout those things. Wanna head over to the others?”

“Wait.” Tommy reaches out and grasps at Ranboo’s forearm. “Just, really quickly. Do you…know if Tubbo is coming?” The compass feels heavier. “And Dream?”

Ranboo seems to stiffen at that, but Tommy isn’t sure if it’s Tubbo’s or Dream’s name that made him rigid. 

“Err…I can’t say I do know. I know Fundy and Ghostbur are on their way here with the Badlands people, that group should be here any second, but…any of the others, I’m not sure.”

Tommy touches his free hand to the compass. He swallows. “I see. Thanks, Ranboo. If you wanna, you can head down to the beach. I’ve gotta be a good host and wait for Fundy and the others.”

“Oh, no, I really don’t mind waiting.”

Tommy wants to say _I need some time to think_ , and then realizes that tomorrow, he’ll be alone again.

He doesn’t want to be alone.

He needs to spend as much time as possible with his friends before he’s alone. _Besides, it’s probably better for my well being if I don’t think about Tubbo._

Tommy shrugs the weighted feelings away. “Well, if you _really_ don’t mind. Think you could hold on to Batthew for me, though? My hand’s getting tired.”

“For sure, yeah.” Ranboo reaches out to grab Batthew’s lead. “Actually, I can take him over to Sapnap, if you want? There’s an area over there where I think I can tie the lead to. I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Take your time,” Tommy replies casually.

He watches Ranboo dash over to the party area, laughing a little as he sees Ranboo get tripped by Quackity. Tommy can practically hear Quackity’s loud laugh even from all the way over there, and he grins even more when he sees Karl hit Quackity on the back of his head with a fish.

“ _Boo_.” 

Tommy lets out a rather embarrassingly high-pitched scream. He turns around, face flushed somewhat pink. “Not _funny_ , Ghostb—”

He abruptly cuts himself off as he’s met face-to-mask with Dream. “Oh,” Tommy says lamely. “Well, _in_ _my_ _defense_ , a ghost’s whole thing is, like, _boo_ , so you really can’t blame me for thinking you were Ghostbur.”

Dream lets out a laugh, one that starts to turn into a wheeze at the end, and he slaps at his knee. “Holy shit, Tommy! _That_ seriously scared you? Oh, my God. I’ll have to try it more often.”

Tommy rolls his eyes as he reaches down to tug off his iron boots.

“What are you doing?” Dream asks.

Tommy instantly freezes, feeling his blood chill a little. _Did I mess up?_

“Uhh, I’m…giving you my armor? Like you always ask me to? I only have my boots on me right now, but don’t worry, I’ll run over to grab the rest—”

“I didn’t ask you today, did I?”

Tommy slowly straightens himself back up. “Um…no?”

Dream nods, placing a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Keep it! It’s your party today, right?” Dream tilts his mask up just enough that Tommy can see Dream’s mouth. 

Dream is smiling.

A genuine, real smile. He tilts the mask back down.

“Go have fun with the others, Tommy. I’ll greet the latecomers.”

Tommy breaks out into a wide smile. “Ha! Like you weren’t late yourself, shithead. Thanks, though. I owe you one!”

Dream only lets out a chuckle.

He turns around to run over to meet up with Ranboo, who appears to have gotten wrapped up in a quarrel between Quackity and Techno.

_I don’t even want to know how that one happened._

Before Tommy can go, though, he’s stopped by a hesitant, “Tommy?”

He swears he heard a quiet _tsk_ from Dream, but the implications of it mean nothing to Tommy.

There, standing right in front of the portal, is Tubbo. Small horns atop his head, a compass attached to his wrist, and a hopeful—but nervous—look on his face.

His Tubbo. His best friend.

Tommy takes a few steps forward, rubbing at his eyes. “Tubbo? Holy shit, you’re—you’re here? You’re real? You came? I’m not hallucinating shit right now, am I?”

Tubbo smiles softly, and he hesitantly opens his arms. An invitation for a hug.

“I’m here, Tommy.”

Running into Tubbo’s arms, he pulls his friend into a tight hug, his head finding a place to rest right against the crook of Tubbo’s neck.

“It’s you, it’s you, it’s you,” Tommy’s voice cracks, but he can’t even find it in him to care. “Tubbo, I missed you so much, I was so alone without you. Thank you, thank you, _thank you_ for coming.”

Tubbo wraps his arms around Tommy. “Of course I did,” he says. “I’ve missed you so much. And I’m—I’m really, really sorry.”

With his head tucked away, Tommy misses the wary glance that Tubbo sends Dream.

He also misses the way Dream raises his mask up to mouth: _You can’t make him come back_.

Tommy shakes his head, slowly pulling away from the hug, though his arms remained firmly on Tubbo’s shoulders.

“You…you don’t have to apologize.”

 _What am I saying? I’m supposed to be mad, supposed to shout and ask what took him so long, I should beg for him to take me back, I should—_

“You’re just doing what’s best for L’manberg.”

Tubbo scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably at that, but Tommy dismisses it. He grabs Tubbo’s wrist, pulling him along.

“We can—we _will_ discuss this later, okay?” Tommy says hopefully. The two are running together side-by-side, and Tommy turns to look at his friend.

Tubbo is smiling at _him_ , and wind is blowing in their hair, and the air smells of the sea, and _this_ is the happiest Tommy has felt in weeks.

“Yeah, we can!” Tubbo agrees, and Tommy feels his heart leap in his chest. “Let’s go!”

The two tumble onto each other in the sand, kicking it up everywhere, making all the others groan.

With sand in his hair and his eyes, listening to everyone’s laughter, and Tubbo’s hand in his, Tommy thinks that he wouldn’t trade anything in the world for this.

* * *

“This cake tastes like shit.”

“ _Language_.”

“Fundy,” Ghostbur sighs, “just because we all know that Tommy isn’t the best baker doesn’t mean you have to say it out-loud.”

Techno shrugs, taking a large bite of cake. “I dunno, I think it tastes pretty good.”

“Of course a pig’s going to say that,” Quackity laughs, then screams when Techno flings a sizable amount of frosting at him.

“Quackity, I think you’ve annoyed Technoblade enough today,” Karl laughs, elbowing him.

George hovers his thumb and index finger close to each other, almost touching. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure Techno was _this_ close to killing you in cold blood.”

“I could’ve—”

“No, you wouldn’t have been able to take me,” Techno disagrees, reaching over to grab Phil’s plate.

Sapnap has to hold Quackity back from attacking, and the sky fills up with the sound of laughter.

* * *

Fundy and Tubbo engage in a chess match on the wet sand.

Ranboo narrates the match poorly, Tommy consistently steps on the sand-drawn chessboard, and Bad has to chastise them for every swear that comes out of their mouth. Skeppy and Ant watch with fascination.

George and Sapnap start a sand castle competition, with Dream as the judge. George wins, and Sapnap chases them both. They ultimately trampled over the sand castles, anyway.

Techno and Phil look for turtles. Ghostbur cheerily follows them, collecting any blue shells.

Sam studiously builds a fireplace, letting out exasperated sighs whenever someone accidentally runs over it.

Quackity buries Karl in sand, making questionable-sized body parts.

Tommy doesn’t want this moment to end.

* * *

“Hey, so…that compass on your neck.”

It’s nighttime, now. Tubbo and Tommy are sitting on the shore, just by themselves. In the distance, they can hear the sound of Quackity and Ghostbur singing a soothing melody near the fire.

“Oh, yeah. Wilbur—Ghostbur—gave it to me. It’s, uh…” Tommy lets out a quiet, embarrassed laugh. “It always leads me to you. In L’manberg, of course, not like _you_ you, but…yeah. _Your Tubbo_.”

Tubbo smiles gently, and he loosens the “watch” on his wrist.

“He did the same for me. It always points me toward Logstedshire…to you.” Tubbo rubs his thumb over the face of the compass. “ _Your Tommy_.”

Tommy swallows, words suddenly feeling so, so hard to think of.

“You—Tubbo, I…”

“I know, Tommy. I know.” Tubbo tilts his head to look at Tommy. “It’s always gonna be you and me. That will never change.”

He sets his compass down on the sand. Tommy follows suit, lifting the compass over his head and placing it right next to Tubbo’s.

The arrows point at each other.

“You’re my best friend, Tubbo.”

“I always will be, Tommy.”

Tommy closes his eyes and rests his head on Tubbo’s lap. Tubbo places a hand on his head, running his fingers through his hair comfortingly.

 _My L’manberg_ , Wilbur had sung.

 _My Tubbo_ , Tommy sings.

* * *

Tommy wakes up, feeling disorientated. He had been stargazing with Tubbo, and then he dozed off…

He turns his head to the side, slowly.

A smiling mask greets him.

“Good morning, Tommy,” Dream says pleasantly. “You ready for the party today?”

**Author's Note:**

> SORRY NOT SORRY ;) hope you enjoyed though thank you for reading! ^^


End file.
